About a year ago I stopped making regular updates to this blog to concentrate on my Namnesia Antidote blog. While that is an ongoing effort, I am starting what should be about a year long effort to revitalize the concept of a "This Day in History" blog. I have decided to leave this blog intact and as-is, using a new "This Day in History 2.0" blog for my expanded and full version. Please feel free to email with your ideas. The two tables below should allow you to find a posting for the "Day in History" you wish to research.

PASCAL DATE INFORMATIONEaster Sunday for the Western Christian Church is defined as the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Lent is defined as the forty days prior to Easter not including Sundays thus Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is 46 days prior to Easter. Calculations for Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday were performed for the 3774 years from 326 to 4099. For the year range 326 to 1582, dates are based on the Julian calendar. For years 1583 to 4099, dates are based on the Gregorian calendar. Ash Wednesday falls in a range of 36 days from February 4 to March 10. Easter Sunday falls in a range of 35 days from March 22 to April 25. The extra day in the Ash Wednesday range is February 29, which only occurs in leap years. February 29 only effects when Ash Wednesday occurs since it is well before the Spring Equinox and has no effect on the date for Easter Sunday. March 10 to March 21 is a twelve-day range that must occur in Lent no matter the timing of Easter Sunday. The entire range of 82 dates from February 4 to April 25 represents all dates with Pascal ramifications.

February 21 is the 18th possible date for Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday occurs on this date 128 times during the 3774 years calculated and is ranked 13th/14th/15th of the 36 dates.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Doubt "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." — Buddha

Stupidest and/or Scariest Quote from the Right for the Day: On War Is Hell ". . . New Bridge Strategies is providing the flexible and complete solutions as well as entrepreneurial ability necessary for companies seeking to open a path to these unique opportunities and engage in both long and short-term Iraqi business projects." — From the website of New Bridge Strategies, a firm headed by Joe M. Allbaugh, who was George W. Bush's campaign manager in 2000. The firm was founded in May 2003. newbridgestrategies.com.—Part 9 of 9 {Due to the length of some of these nutball quotes, I have decided to split the longer ones into parts. I could have abridged them but I think that would have lessened the impact of showing just how crazy these guys are. Please refer to previous and/or subsequent posts for complete quote.}

Dumbest Thing Said for the Day: From the world of Sports "Mike Caldwell, the Padres' right-handed southpaw, will pitch tonight." — Jerry Coleman was an infielder for the Yankees (what is it about the Bronx Bombers that turned out such a raft of funny speakers?), and manager of the San Diego Padres. After playing, he made his mark as a radio and TV broadcaster, where his malapropisms, non sequiturs, and other goofs became legendary. Coleman is Hall of Shame member #8.

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

Credit & Copyright: Victor BertolClick picture to go to NASA APOD site for full explanation

EVENTS

● 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria.

● 1109 - Death of Anselm of Canterbury, 76, priest and theologian. Best remembered for his 1099 classic, "Cur Deus Homo" ("Why God Became Man"), Anselm is regarded as the most original thinker in the Catholic Church since Augustine. His most often quoted saying was: 'I believe, in order that I may understand.'

● 1173 - Pope Alexander III canonized Thomas Becket (1118-70). As Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket had been martyred three years earlier on orders of English King Henry II a former friend until Becket was elevated to Archbishop in 1162.

● 1245 - Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, was granted resignation after having confessed to torture and forgery.

● 1431 - England begins trial against Joan of Arc

● 1440 - The Prussian Confederation is formed.

● 1543 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.

● 1564 - Philip II routes cardinal Granvelle to Franche-Comté

● 1574 - Spanish garrison of Middelburg Netherlands surrenders

● 1583 - Groningen Netherlands begins using Gregorian calendar

● 1598 - Boris Godunov crowned tsar

● 1613 - Mikhail I is elected unanimously as Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.

● 1673 - Michiel A de Ruyter appointed Lieutenant-Admiral-General of Dutch fleet

● 1675 - Prince Willem III appointed viceroy of Gelderland

● 1795 - Freedom of worship was established in France under the constitution that came out of the French Revolution of 1789.

● 1804 - The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks in Wales.

● 1828 - Premier issue of the "Cherokee Phoenix" published. First U.S. newspaper in a native language, it uses the Cherokee syllabary, developed by Sequoyah, who assigned symbols to 86 Cherokee syllables. The Phoenix will appear weekly until May 1834.

● 1835 - U.S. Senate accepts treaty by which Potawatomi, Ottowa, and Chippewa cede land (including that of the town of Chicago) to U.S. government.

● 1842 - John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.

● 1846 - 1st US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley, Lowell MA

● 1848 - Former President John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He died two days later.

● 1919 - In Munich, the socialist Kurt Eisner, principal in the Bavarian revolution and president of the Republic of Councils, is assassinated by extremists. The Central Council of the Republic declares a general strike and state of siege.

● 1934 - Augusto Cesar Sandino, hero of Nicaraguan independence, and his aides assassinated in Managua by Somoza's National Guard.

● 1934 - Twelve hundred assembly line workers at the Racine, Wisconsin Nash automobile plant go on strike. Plants in Milwaukee and Kenosha, with another 3,400, follow. After eight weeks of federal mediation, all workers receive raises of up to 17 percent, and unions at each plant win sole bargaining rights.

● 1936 - Birth of Barbara Jordan, African-American who was first congresswoman from the Deep South (1972-78).

● 1945 - Death of Eric Liddell, 43, Scottish Olympic champion runner. Later a missionary to China, Liddell was captured by the Japanese during WWII and died of a brain tumor while still imprisoned. (His college running days were portrayed in the 1981 British film, "Chariots of Fire.")

● 1952 - In Dhaka, East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) police opened fire on a procession of students, who demanded the establishment of Bengali as the official language, killing four people and starting a country-wide protest which led to the recognition of Bengali as one of the national languages of Pakistan. The day was later declared as "International Mother Language Day" by UNESCO.

● 1952 - The government of Winston Churchill abolishes Identity Cards (instituted in 1939) in the UK to "set the people free".

● 1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson discover the structure of the DNA molecule.

● 1962 - J. Edgar Hoover wins a George Washington Award from the Freedom Foundation for "the most outstanding individual contribution to American freedom during 1961." Hoover also won the award in 1958. Don't know which dress he wore.

● 1971 - The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

● 1972 - Beginning of the trial of Fr. Philip Berrigan and six other nonviolent activists (The "Harrisburg Seven") in Harrisburg, PA for an alleged plot to kidnap Henry Kissinger. Proceedings later end in a mistrial. Trial against Kissinger still pending.

● 1972 - Pres. Richard Nixon visits Communist China as American bombers carry out saturation bombing raids against the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam. The cordial welcome given Nixon by the Chinese Stalinists was a rebuke to North Vietnam and the NLF, China's supposed allies. By opening diplomatic relations with Beijing, the U.S. hoped to isolate the NLF and pressure it into accepting a negotiated deal to end the war in Vietnam, while preserving imperialist interests in the region.

● 1974 - The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal in carrying out a truce with Egypt.

● 1974 - Yugoslavia adopts constitution

● 1975 - Former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up.

● 1981 - Charles Rocket, portraying the gunshot victim in a Saturday Night Live parody of the "Who Shot J.R." plot on the program Dallas, said, "I'd like to know who the fuck did it," during the live feed of the "goodnights" segment. Afterward, everyone except Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo was fired.

● 1988 - During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart (age 52) admitted to visiting a prostitute, then announced he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time. (Defrocked in April by the Assemblies of God, he was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returned after only three months)

● 1989 - U.S. President Bush called Ayatollah Khomeini's death warrant against "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie "deeply offensive to the norms of civilized behavior." {Yeah we do it without making public proclomations.}

● 2000 - David Letterman returns to The Late Show over a month after having an emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery.

● 2001 - Ban follows foot-and-mouth outbreak; The European Commission bans all British milk, meat and livestock exports following the UK's first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for two decades.

● 2002 - The State Department declared that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was dead, a month after he'd been abducted by Islamic extremists in Pakistan.

● 2003 - Over 100 concert goers in Rhode Island die in a fire during a performance of the rock band Great White.

● 2004 - The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.

● 2006 - New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils a brand new sign on the corner of West 66th Street called Peter Jennings Way in honor of the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.

● 2006 - President George W. Bush endorsed the takeover of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates, and pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

● 2007 - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigns from office. His resignation is rejected by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.

● Roman Catholic:● St. Avitus II of Clermont● St. Felix of Metz● St. Gundebert● St. Paterius● St. Pepin of Landen● St. Peter Damiani, bishop of Ostia, confessor/doctor● St. Peter the Scribe● St. Randoald● St. Robert Southwell, English Jesuit, martyr● St. Severian● St. Valerius and Companions● Bl. Pepin of Landen

No comments:

WELCOME

About Me

Life long Liberal. Actually saw JFK on campaign trail. Defining moment of my life was the assassination of JFK. First presidential election I participated in was knocking on doors for McGovern, have been tilting at windmills ever since.